


all these miles just to get back home

by whotfispeach



Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, a study in geoff’s need for security and balance in his relationships, its softer than it sounds i promise, otto is a fucking enigma, outweighing the need for Literally Anything Else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 08:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16036712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whotfispeach/pseuds/whotfispeach
Summary: geoff wasn’t pining. not really. it was hard to pine after someone who fell into stride with him so naturally, who complimented his softer lines with solid edges.(or; geoff just wants to make everybody happy, otto just wants to help, and awsten is just tired.)





	all these miles just to get back home

**Author's Note:**

> i exclusively write ships w otto in them bc justice for otto in parx fanfic

geoff wasn’t pining. not really. it was hard to pine after someone who fell into stride with him so naturally, who complimented his softer lines with solid edges.

it was so easy to share the background space with otto, watching fondly as awsten charmed the pants off every crowd they met, stepping in when needed, but letting him take the reins. he wasn’t exactly jealous of the spotlight, the scrutiny. keeping the band steady, keeping them grounded, was geoff’s thing, and he was content to let the other two do the rest.

but that was where otto was an enigma to him. where awsten was loud, front and center, and geoff had a tight grip on both of them, keeping them from absolutely losing their shit at most all times, otto seemed to fluctuate between the two spaces, almost like his personality couldn’t find a place to settle. otto existed somewhere in between being a charming dork and a solid ground, for both boys. that much geoff could handle. it was when otto started to drift from one extreme to the other that he got... fidgety.

he was fidgeting when awsten found him at the front of the bus, curled up with his phone at the table, staring blankly at the screen, which had finally gone dark from disuse.

“you all good?” he heard awsten ask, a tinge of concern weighing at his casual tone.

“yeah,” geoff replied easily, glancing up at awsten and flashing a tiny smile. “tired.”

“then go to bed, weirdo.” geoff just shrugged. “you sure you’re alright?”

“i’m fine,” geoff insisted.

with a roll of his eyes that said it all, awsten backed down, shuffling off to his bunk. “g’night, then, dad.”

“night.”

geoff wasn’t fine. he wrapped his arms around his knees and drew them to his chest, leaning his chin between them as he zoned out. his mind was whirling into space, it felt like, which wasn’t exactly good news for the other boys, if the grounded one couldn’t even chill the fuck out himself.

“hey, geoff?”

geoff blinked rapidly, shifting his gaze to meet otto’s. well. otto was frowning at him.

“yeah?”

“what’s up?”

geoff just shook his head, eyebrows lifting knowingly. “did awsten tell you to babysit?”

“no.” otto’s eyebrows scrunched together, lips pressed in a thin line. geoff could practically hear him thinking, calculating, deciphering. “something’s bothering you.”

“it’s not-“

“listen, we may be kind of stupid, but we’re not that stupid,” otto interjected. his face softened then, a kind smile tugging at the corner of his lips. geoff dropped his gaze to his hands, suddenly very nervous. “geoff?”

“i’m fine, otto. really.”

silence. geoff half hoped he’d scared otto off or something, that he’d given up and gone to bed. then there was a presence in the scant space next to him, a squeak of an old leather cushion, an arm around geoff’s shoulders. for a relatively tall boy, geoff suddenly felt small.

“you know you can talk to us, right?” otto murmured. his voice was soft and warm, and tinged with something geoff couldn’t place. awsten, he could read like a book. otto was harder to decipher. “to me?”

it was sadness, geoff realized suddenly, and the weight of his fear hit him in the chest like a sucker punch. he’d failed, he’d worried his friends, the boys he held as close as family, the boys he fought and repressed and smiled and laughed and held onto for dear life just to make them happy, anything to make sure they were okay. otto’s arm tightened around him, pulling him up against his side, and the floodgates of everything he’d buried burst with a vengeance.

he’d started to catalogue otto’s smiles. he had a different smile for every situation; there was his unadulterated joy smile, his fuck-yeah-i-beat-you-at-mario-kart-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it shit eating grin, his softer, modest smile reserved for interviews, his food after a long day of travel smile, his onstage mid-song giddy smile. somewhere along the way geoff unconsciously decided he wanted to make otto smile as often as humanly possible. he wanted to fall into step with otto, share his space with otto, be the person otto turned to when he was happy or frustrated or upset or lonely or scared, finally crack the mystery of exactly why otto was the one who saw his weak spots and stood guard against the world rather than kick him while he was down.

geoff looked over at otto, and oh, he was a fucking idiot.

“earth to geoff?”

“i’m sorry,” geoff mumbled. half of him wanted to scramble away from otto as quickly as possible. the other half wanted to burrow as close to otto as he could manage, and instead of either, he froze in his seat, staring wide eyed at otto. “i’m an idiot.”

otto’s sad smile dropped into a frown, and geoff could physically feel his heart drop into his stomach. “you’re not an idiot,” he insisted kindly. “you’re just used to looking after us.”

geoff had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. “i guess so.”

otto nudged geoff’s knee with his free hand, now looking geoff in the eyes imploringly. “it’s okay to let other people take care of you sometimes, you know? you don’t always have to be the rock.”

geoff shrugged

“geoff. i mean it.”

“i have a crush on you,” he blurted out. otto’s eyes blew wide. “fuck, i didn’t mean- i mean, i did- but i didn’t, i don’t wanna make it weird, and now it’s weird cause like, we’re friends and in a band and that’s always bad news, right? and i fucked it up, and now you-“

geoff was very suddenly cut off with lips on his, muffling whatever emotional tangent he’d been on the road to with what felt like a long overdue kiss. and then he realized otto was kissing him. otto. he had to be dreaming, or really wasted, butwhen otto pulled back to look at him... it was still otto, and he was still curled up at the table, being an oblivious idiot.

“oh.”

otto grinned. “yeah.”

“about fucking time!” awsten yelled from his bunk.

geoff was caught between sputtering and giggling, eyes wide and nervous and giddy as otto wrapped both arms around him. he fell into otto’s space easily, head dropping to rest on his shoulder, legs stretching out over his.

“is that all?” otto teased.

geoff laughed, light and happy. “dunno,” he answered honestly.

“that’s fine,” otto assured him. “we’ve got time to figure you out.”


End file.
